Four of the five party leaders represented in the National Assembly answered questions from young Quebecers on Friday evening in Montreal. They discussed various themes ranging from climate change to housing, including immigration and relations with indigenous peoples, in an evening marked by the absence of Prime Minister François Legault.
Posted at 12:11 a.m.
“We would have liked to have the Prime Minister with us, but [il] declined the invitation”, launched from the outset the director of Le Devoir, Bryan Miles, who moderated the discussion organized by this newspaper and the Institut du Nouveau-Monde (INM) at Concordia University.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), Dominique Anglade, the leader of Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the leader of the Parti québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, and the leader of the Conservative Party of Québec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, took turns answering questions selected or submitted by The duty and the INM. They largely reiterated the commitments of their parties without directly confronting each other during this “youth dialogue”.
It was Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon who answered the first question, which concerned housing, by repeating the PQ’s commitment to build 5,000 new social housing units per year and to impose tax measures aimed at discouraging speculation. . On the issue of parity, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon praised the history of his party, which notably had the Pay Equity Actand opened the door to legislation to force private sector boards of directors to move towards gender parity.
Asked about dropping out of school, the leader of the PQ recalled his request earlier this year to make access to sports free, which was “a connecting factor” for Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. He also said he wanted to reduce student-teacher ratios “as much as possible” and increase the presence of other professionals such as psychologists. Finally, he stressed the importance of mental health and the potentially harmful role of social networks, not to mention specific commitments.
Mr. Duhaime first had to answer a question — randomly selected — about his plan to counter misinformation. The leader of the PCQ blamed a “democratic deficit”, pointing out that a large number of Quebecers had opposed health measures in force during the pandemic without their voices finding an echo in the National Assembly. He also accused Prime Minister Legault of fueling polarization on this plan. Regarding access to daycare, Mr. Duhaime resumed his commitment to pay $200 per week per child to parents so that they choose an appropriate service.
To a question on the measures to be taken in the face of climate change, the Conservative leader said he wanted to prioritize the electrification of transportation, which represents more than 43% of the province’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He said that this project could be financed by Quebec resources, later specifying to allude to shale gas and other hydrocarbons, the exploitation of which is now prohibited here. In the same vein, Mr. Duhaime said he was opposed to the idea of closing the Horne Foundry, however judging the current situation unacceptable for people’s health.
To improve the health system, Mr.me Anglade said he wanted to put more resources on the front line and ensure that all Quebecers have a family doctor. She also highlighted the importance of “universality of mental health care”. Questioned about the “institutional negligence” of the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ), the Liberal leader undertook to adopt all the recommendations of the Laurent Commission, set up in the wake of the infanticide of a 7-year-old girl in Granby in 2019.
On what Quebec should do to defend itself “from oil projects that Canada might try to impose on us,” Ms.me Anglade spoke about his ECO project, which aims in particular to achieve carbon neutrality and to develop the green hydrogen sector for the transport of goods. Finally, on academic freedom, she underlined the importance of being able to feel comfortable sharing one’s opinion in a respectful environment without putting forward any particular proposal.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois first had to share his commitments to reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples. He highlighted QS’s six indigenous candidates in the upcoming elections, including Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash in Ungava, before arguing that the reconciliation agenda should be decided by indigenous leadership and not by the Quebec head of state. The supportive co-spokesperson nevertheless pledged to adopt the “Joyce principle”, which the government of François Legault renounced last year, and to recognize a special status for indigenous languages.
On the integration of newcomers, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois said he wanted to focus on francization in the paid workplace, the promotion of Quebec culture, and immigration to the region, which he would also like to see increase. To tackle the labor shortage, the MNA for Gouin said he wanted to improve working conditions in the public sector and called for an increase in the minimum wage to $18 an hour. Finally, to encourage young people to vote, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois has pledged to raise the legal voting age to 16 instead of 18.